Popular Reading Collections in Academic Libraries

I have been interested in popular reading collections in academic library collections for years. Click here to pull up my posts on the topic including slides I created for a 2016 ILA Annual presentation where I talk about all of the reason WHY it makes sense for every academic library. [Major reason: your patrons, students, staff and faculty like to read for fun too, maybe even more than the average library user].

The recent issue of RUSQ has a feature article on the topic. It's a real life, researched, academic article and not just me telling you why my opinion is right. But spoiler alert, I was right.

Although RUSQ allows reproduction of their articles in entirety for educational purposes, I would rather  link to the article and simply repost the title, author info, and summary below. It is a bit longer than the material I usually post, but there is much here that we all can learn about popular reading collections, public, school, academic, or special libraries.

Again, click here to read the full article.

Don’t Call It a Comeback

Popular Reading Collections in Academic Libraries

Elizabeth Brookbank, Anne-Marie Davis, and Lydia Harlan

Elizabeth Brookbank (brookbanke@ mail.wou.edu) is Instruction Librarian, Hamersly Library, Western Oregon University. Anne-Marie Davis (adavey@uw.edu) is Collection Development Coordinator, Odegaard Undergraduate Library, University of Washington. Lydia Harlan (lharlan@ uoregon.edu) is Acquisitions Budget and Receiving Coordinator, Knight Library, University of Oregon.

Despite the persisting notion that recreational reading does not have a place in the academic mission of college and university libraries, these libraries have a long history of providing pleasure reading for their patrons. During the latter half of the twentieth century, the idea of academic libraries meeting the recreational reading needs of students seems to have fallen out of favor, but a literature review of that time period shows that the collections them- selves still existed. Discussion of—and jus- tifications for—these collections, however, has enjoyed a resurgence in the library literature over the past decade. Given this renewed interest, this study seeks to assess just how common these collections are in US academic libraries today, and whether or not they are, in fact, enjoying a come- back from previous decades. This study surveyed the thirty-nine academic libraries that make up the Orbis Cascade Alliance in the Pacific Northwest, a diverse group of libraries in terms of size, type, budget, and student populations. The results of the survey show that a majority of librar- ies have a recreational collection and that these collections are valued by patrons and librarians alike. Recommendations are made for shifting the perspective on popular reading collections and their place in academic libraries, as well as for how to study them in the future.

Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 28–39
© 2018 American Library Association. All rights reserved.
Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit, educational use.

RA for All Roadshow Stops at ILA Annual Conference

Today I am presenting at the Illinois Library Association’s Annual Conference with two different groups directed at two difference audiences. This post has all of the information with links to the slides.

First, from 11:15am -12:15pm I am presenting RA Rethink with Amanda Blau [YS] and Heather Booth [YA]:

You can live without a 3D printer, but without readers’ advisory, you’re not doing your job. Readers’ advisory belongs in every library, no matter your budget or size. A robust and modern program that embraces whole collection discovery is one that inspires staff, engages patrons, and builds stronger library communities. Reconnect with this core service and empower staff at all levels to connect users with your collection. A panel of Readers’ Advisory advocates will address the needs of children, teens, and adults, offering “rethinks” that will harken back to the basics of this core service and incorporate 21st Century possibilities.

This program is geared toward all public library staff who work with any age level of leisure readers.

Click here for slide access

  

Then from 3:15pm - 4:15pm I am excited to announce my first time presenting to an Academic Library Staff audience-- I Want to Read a Book for Fun!: Successful Readers’ Advisory Techniques in Academic Libraries which I am co-presenting with Carolyn Ciesla from Prairie State College:

Academic libraries function as the closest library for two sets of patrons-- the students and the employees. As circulation and reference stats decrease, libraries are increasingly looking for ways to bring users into the building. One way to increase library use is by reminding library patrons that on top of fulfilling the traditional, educational role, the library offers leisure reading options as well. This presentation will highlight ways academic libraries can enhance their popular materials collection and increase patron use and involvement, including marketing and outreach opportunities. 

Click here for slide access

I hope to see some of you there.

I can also come to your State Library Conference. Contact me for details and questions.

Successful Readers' Advisory Techniques in Academic Libraries is Coming to ILA this Fall

At the start of 2016 I made this resolution:

Explore working with the academic library community more: This is a personal goal. I have been very interested in how academic libraries are serving leisure readers and why they should be putting more effort into this service. I submitted a program for IACRL [with a co-presenter who is an academic librarian] but it was not accepted. I am not going to give up on this topic. You may not see a lot here on the blog right away because I need to do a little more research, but I am making this a priority.

Well, recently that same program, with that same academic librarian, Carolyn Ciesla [mention above as being rejected by IACRL ]was accepted for the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference.  Here is what we submitted, so you can get a sense of what to expect:

Title: I Want To Read a Book for Fun!: Successful Readers' Advisory Techniques in Academic Libraries

Abstract: Academic libraries function as the closest library for two sets of patrons-- the students and the employees. As circulation and reference stats decrease, libraries are increasingly looking for ways to bring users into the building. One way to increase library is use is by reminding library patrons that on top of fulfilling the traditional, educational role, the library offers leisure reading options as well. This presentation will highlight ways academic libraries can enhance their popular materials collection and increase patron use and involvement, including marketing and outreach opportunities.

Session attendees will:

• learn the benefits of creating a leisure collection in their library
• learn how to build a successful leisure collection, OR reinvigorate an older collection
• learn best practices for marketing and outreach for their leisure collection

The conference isn’t until October, but I am starting to gather many of the articles and thoughts I had found over the last few months into one place, when I realized that it would be worth it to share them with all of you:

• Here is a very interesting case study where a popular romance collection was created for an academic library.
• This blog post on the PA Library Association’s College and Research Division’s blog sums up why the lack of RA in academic libraries is so troubling.
• Here is another case study, this time from the University of British Columbia on how they established a popular reading collection. By the way, this one has a great bibliography if you want to look into this topic some more.
• Here is an ALA report from 2009 ALA which examines the role of recreational reading in academic libraries.
• Here is a 2011 Readers’ Advisory column from RUSQ on the topic of leisure reading and academic libraries.
• From Public Services Quarterly: Popular Reading Collections in PublicUniversity Libraries: A Survey ofThree Southeastern States [2009]

What I am learning from my research and the dozen or so visits I have made to academic libraries [both in IL and other states over the last 2 years] is that many academic libraries are beginning to have popular reading collection but they have NO plans on how to serve leisure readers.  In other words, they have the books but no RA service to go with it.

I think this is recipe for failure in the long run and that is why Carolyn and I plan to step in and help. It is on the patron service side of this equation where our program will focus. An “if you build it, they will come” attitude may work in the movies, but in real life, we need staff that can promote and encourage use of a popular reading collection, as well as be trained in how to help patrons navigate the wide array of choices available for their leisure reading needs and match each reader with his or her best book for that moment in time.

I have also found that as someone who is devoted to helping leisure readers from the public library perspective, I have a lot to learn from my academic peers. They look at the issue of serving leisure readers from a completely different angle than I am used to. I love looking at the things I am comfortable doing in a new light; that is a place from which deeper understand and possible new ideas can come. I hope you look at some of these articles too, especially those of you, the vast majority of my readers, who function in a public library environment. We have a lot to learn from each other.

I am sure I will have more to say on this topic in the coming months. This is just a start. In fact, as I gather my thoughts and ideas I will probably try them out here on the blog first. And of course, our complete program including slides and any handouts will be up on RA for All during the conference.